It is a market to which the Elsecar rooms of BBR (10 per cent buyer’s premium) has given some impetus. The South Yorkshire bottles and advertising specialists set a record last May when a 5in (13cm) jar entitled with the black transfer inscription Boracic Crystals sold to a collector at £530 and had a further success on May 8 with a Bisto storage jar.
Standing 41/4in (11cm) tall with a black shield mark to the base, it was entered into the sale as part of a collection from South Africa and was the first time this particular example is known to have appeared on the market. Cornish Ware is still very much a British pursuit and although BBR sales do attract international collectors the storage jar went to a home-based collector in the room at £400.
Ceramics gravy train?
UK: THE Cornish Ware range is one of a number of once everyday 20th century ceramics now attracting serious collectors.